Letter: Bible offers advice for parents

The Bible definitely teaches it takes wisdom and tough love to raise children, and raise them right. Notice what it says:

Proverbs 22:15 (KJV) “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.”

Proverbs 23:13-14 (Amplified Bible) “13Withhold not discipline from the child; for if you strike and punish him with the (reedlike) rod, he will not die. 14You shall whip him with the rod and deliver his life from Sheol (Hades, the place of the dead).” My mother used a peach limb.

Hebrews 12:6 (KJV) “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” God sets the example.

Look up that word scourge in your dictionary. It is definitely not a spanking of the hand with a ruler, but the spanking of the hand does have its place.

To “scourge” someone may involve various forms of chastisement.

When a parent abuses a child it is usually because the parent didn’t get the proper raising at home — obviously he or she had been abused. A bitter parent makes a bitter child, but forgiveness on the part of the abused breaks the bitterness cycle.

Parents should realize God gave them the responsibility to teach and train their children, and believe you me it takes wisdom and tough love. The lack of proper training today means problems tomorrow. So, don’t blame God.

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"Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own." Jonathan Swift "I don't care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members." Groucho Marx

literally word for word, though most of those seem to pick and choose which verses are literal and which ones need to be "interpreted". I know quite a few people with a reasonable amount of wealth that take Genesis literally, but "interpret" Jesus' comments comparing the chances of a wealthy man getting into Heaven, with the chances of a loaded camel passing through the eye of a needle.

Some say that the Bible must be interpreted to some degree in its entirety.

I do notice that Mr. Glenn uses only OT verses to justify beating children with sticks. I don't think that Jesus recommended such means of discipline, but I may be mistaken

I haven't done a lot of research, but there does seem to be some historical support for Jesus actually existing, though at least a few think that the Jesus discussed in the NT might have been more than one man.

Regardless, there isn't much support for beating kids with sticks, or scourging them either, in current parenting research, though there is some research that indicates that beating a child is a valid way of teaching them to use violence to get what they want.

I always thought some of the teachings of Jesus like the camel going through the needle was to make a point about how difficult it was for a rich man to get into heaven. I never thought it was a literal saying. If Jesus is only a story and not real, the meaning for millions of people is they are living a lie. Christians like me might as well live it up since there is no salvation in Jesus. I’m not sure I want to go there.

As far as spanking kids is concerned, there have been a whole lot of spanked children in past generations that turned out okay. I know it sure made me think twice about doing something my dad would not have liked. But that's just me.